Feeding mechanism for a container filling machine

ABSTRACT

A FEEDING MECHANISM FOR ADVANCING CONTAINERS THROUGH A CONTAINER FILLING AND CLOSING MACHINE, COMPRISING AN ENDWISE MOVABLE FEED BAR HAVING FEEDING ELEMENTS FOR ENGAGING THE CONTAINERS AND ADVANCING THE SAME THEREWITH, THE FEED BAR BEING MOVED ENDWISE BY A ROTARY HYDRAULIC MOTOR HAVING A THROW OF SUBSTANTIALLY ONE-HALF   REVOLUTION WHEREBY THE CONTAINERS ARE ACCELERATED SLOWLY AT THE BEGINNING OF THE ADVANCE STROKE AND ARE DECELERATED SLOWLY AT THE END OF THE ADVANCE STROKE SO THAT THE CONTAINERS ARE NOT UPSET OR THE CONTENTS SPALSHED THEREFROM.

Oct; 19, 1971 H. R. GARRETT 3,613,331

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR A CONTAINER FILLING MACHINE Filed March 28, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 HOWARD R. GARRETT INVENTQR ATTORNEY H. R. GARRETT Oct. 19, 1971 FEEDING MECHANISM FOR A CONTAINER FILLING MACHINE Filed March 28, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 HOWARD R. GARRETT INVENTOR ATTORNEY 'IIIIIJ H. R. GARRETT Oct. 19, 1971 FEEDING MECHANISM FOR A CONTAINER FILLING MACHINE Filed March 28, 1969 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 HOWARD R. GARRETT INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent O1ce FEEDING MECHANISM FOR A CONTAINER FILLING MACHINE Howard R. Garrett, St. Paul, Minn., assignor to Haskon, Inc., St. Paul, Minn.

Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 636,182,

May 4, 1967. This application Mar. 28, 1969,

Ser. No. 811,466

Int. Cl. 1365b 3/ 04, 59/00 US. Cl. 53-266 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This application is a continuation-in-part of prior patent application Ser No. 636,182, filed May 4, 1967 and now Pat. No. 3,465,494.

This invention relates to a machine for filling and closing containers and particularly to the feeding mechanism for advancing containers through a filling machine such as the so-called universal filling machine that forms the subject matter of Pat. No. 3,383,829, which machine is adapted to fill different types and sizes of containers such as the different sizes of paper cartons and plastic bottles or jugs that are commonly used for packaging milk.

In the filling machine of the type disclosed in the above noted Pat. No. 3,383,829, the containers are indexed stepwise into operative position relative to a filling valve for introducing a predetermined quantity of material into the container, the illustrated means being time controlled whereby the filling valve is opened for a precisely timed interval so that, with the milk in the supply tank under a constant head, a precisely measured quantity of milk is delivered into the container. In order to decrease the fillinging time and thus the cycle time of the machine, there may be provided a plurality of filling valves, each of which defines a filling position, and the container is par tially filled in equal increments at each of the several filling positions by a fraction corresponding to the number of filling positions, for example, the machine may have three fillilng positions and one-third of the total volume of the container is introduced into the container at each position.

In the above machine, the cycle time is dependent upon the speed of the feeding or indexing mechanism for the containers as well as upon the amount of time required to discharge the designed volume of liquid into the container at each filling position. The speed of the feeding mechanism is in turn limited not only by the mechanics of the system, that is, the time required to drive the feeding mechanism physically through the various motions in the feeding cycle, but also by the fact that the engagement with and the acceleration and deceleration of the container must be sufiicient-ly smooth and easy so that the container will not be upset nor the contents splashed from it. The problem with upsetting the containers is particularly acute with containers such as the conventional paper milk cartons which have a cross section that is relatively small in relation to the height. of the carton. Splashing from the carton becomes a problem after the carton is 3,613,331 Patented Oct. 19, 1971 completely filled and is subsequently indexed through the several positions at which the top of the carton is closed.

A further problem presented in the above referred to machines is the requirement for a simple and easy-to- 5 operate adjustment for aligning the different cartons with the filling valves. The throw or the length of the advance stroke of the feed mechanism is fixed by the spacing of the filling valves of the machine, which spacing is in turn determined essentially by the dimensions of the largest 1O container to be processed through the machine. The required adjustment is designed to accommodate the variations in the cross sections of the containers and the location of the openings, so that at the end of each feeding cycle, the containers at the filling positions of the machine,

regardless of their size or cross section, are located with the openings thereof aligned with the filling valves.

It is an object of this invention to provide a feed mechanism for advancing containers individually through a filling machine, which feed mechanism will advance the containers smoothly without upsetting the same or splashing the contents therefrom, and which at the same time, will move the containers as rapidly as possible in order to provide for a minimum cycle time. A further object of this invention is to provide a feed mechanism which can be simply and conveniently adjusted to vary the position thereof at the end of each feeding cycle without adjusting the stroke of the same whereby a plurality of containers Of different sizes are adapted to be processed through the machine, with each of the containers being aligned ,with a filling valve upon successive feeding cycles. Other objects of this invention are to provide such a feed mechanism which is simple and economical, durable and trouble-free in operation, and easy to operate.

The above objects have been achieved by the provision of a feed mechanism which comprises a feed bar having a plurality of feeding elements or blades equally spaced along the same, the feed mechanism being actuated through a four-stroke cycle wherein the blades are moved into and out of pushing relation relative to the containers, and

moved with the feed bar in an endwise advance or feeding stroke and a return stroke. To provide for advancing the containers as fast as possible while providing a smooth acceleration and deceleration of the feed bar in its endwise movement so that the containers will not be subjected to any suddenly applied forces that would tend to upset it or splash the contents from it, the feed bar is driven endwise by a rotary hydraulic motor having an arcuate throw of substantially one-half of one revolution with the ends of the arcuate throw aligned in the direction of the endwise movement of the feed bar. To provide for adjustment of the position of the endwise stroke of the feed bar, that is, the position of the feed bar at the beginning and at the end of its advance and return strokes,

there is provided a readily adjustable connection between tghe crank element of the hydraulic motor and the feed With the above and other objects in view, the present invention is hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front view of a machine embodying the present invention, the view being partly in elevation and partly broken away and in section.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view of the container feeding mechanism at the container-input end of the machine of FIG. 1, with a portion of the base of the machine partly broken away.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary view in perspective of the means for imparting oscillation to the feeding mechanism of the machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on the line 44 of FIG. 1.

FIG. is a detail sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a detail sectional view taken substantially on the line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a detail sectional view taken substantially on the line 77 of FIG. 2.

With reference to the drawings, there is illustrated a filling machine 1 of the type disclosed in the above noted Pat. No. 3,383,829 and which is adapted to fill various sizes of paper and plastic containers with a material and particularly a liquid such as milk.

The machine 1 comprises a base 2 having a top 3. Overhanging the top 3 is a supporting structure comprising a pair of spaced parallel rods 4, which rods 4 are disposed endwise of the machine in a plane parallel to the top 3 and are supported by supporting rods 5 upstanding from the top 3. The rods 4 in turn support a filling apparatus including a filling tank 6, a heater 7, a sealing head 8 and a capping head 9. In addition to the filling tank 6, the filling apparatus includes a plurality of filling valves 10 which may be of the type forming the subject matter of the Austin et al. Pat. No. 3,411,745, Nov. 19, 1968. The valves 10 comprise a spout 11 (FIG. 4) depending from the tank 6 and having a valve 11:: internally thereof that is adapted to be opened and closed by a solenoid 12 mounted at the top of the tank 6. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, there are three of the filling valves 10 and they are actuated by suitable time control mechanism in a control panel 13 mounted on a supporting plate 14.

The heater 7 is adapted to heat the top flaps or panels of the usual paper milk carton to soften the plastic coating thereon and thus render the same scalable by the sealing head 8. The capping head 9 is adapted to apply a conventional paper or plastic closure or cap to the spout of a plastic container. When paper cartons are being filled and closed, the capping head 9 is preferably removed from the machine, and when plastic containers are being filled and closed, the heater 7 and sealing head 8 are either removed from the machine or tilted back about the rear one of the rods 4 to an inoperative position.

As illustrated in application Ser. No. 636,182, the containers to be filled and closed are fed to the filling machine at the input end thereof alternatively by a carton forming machine (not shown) or a conveyor mechanism (not shown). The forming machine may be of the type disclosed in Pat. No. 3,364,826 which is adapted to erect paper cartons from flat carton blanks and to discharge the same at the output end thereof. The conveyor mechanism is adapted to receive plastic bottles or jugs which may be loaded thereon manually and to advance them to the filling machine.

The filling machine receives the containers to be filled on a slide 15 that is arranged endwise of the machine and is supported on the upper ends of a plurality of posts 16 v that are mounted vertically in the top 3 for endwise sliding. The slide 15 has upstanding lips 17 along the edges thereof to confine the base of the container to movement endwise of the slide 15. In order to accommodate containers having different widths, a plurality of the slides 15 are provided, each of which is dimensioned relative to a particular container or series of containers, that is, containers such as the quart and pint paper milk cartons which have the same cross section but vary in height to provide different volumes. The slide 15 is secured to the posts 16 by releasable connections, each of which comprises a bar 18 (FIG. 6) secured to the top of the posts 16, which bar 18 has a slot 19 that receives studs 20 depending from the slide 15. The studs 20 may have internally threaded holes 21 extending inwardly from the bottom thereof to receive screws for fastening the slide 15 to the bar 18.

The posts 16 are adapted to be adjusted vertically to raise and lower the slide 15 relative to the tank 6 and the other mechanism carried by the rods 4, and thereby effect an adjustment to compensate for the difference in the height of the different containers. Each of the posts 16 is thus mounted for endwise sliding in bushings 22 in the top 3 and has the lower end thereof formed with a rack 23 that meshes with a pinion 24 (FIG. 5) on a shaft 25 journaled longitudinally of the base 2 in brackets 26 which are, in turn, supported by a brace 26a. The shaft 25 is adjusted angularly to raise and lower the rods 16 by a jack shaft 27 journaled in the bracket 27a on the brace 26a, the jack shaft 27 having a worm 28 meshing with a worm wheel 29 on the shaft 25 and extending through the front wall of the base 2 to receive a hand wheel 30.

The means for moving or for indexing the containers along the slide 15 comprises a feed means 31 including a feed bar 32 mounted in bearing blocks 33 on the top 3 for pivotal movement and for axial sliding in a direction endwise of the machine. The feed bar 32 carries a supporting bar 34 that is mounted thereon by means of a plurality of supporting collars 35 secured to the feed bar 32 and arms 36 secured to the collars 35 by bolts 36a.

A plurality of feeding elements in the form of blades 37 are secured in a uniformly spaced relation along the supporting bar 34, the blades 37 having a substantially planar container-engaging portion disposed substantially normal to the axis of the feed bar 32.

The feed bar 32 is arranged so that when pivotally moved into its operative position, the blades 37 overhang the slide 15 and are adapted to engage a container thereon and to move the same along the slide 15 as the blades are advanced through the advance or feeding stroke of the feed bar 32. At the same time, when the feed bar 32 is pivotally moved into its inoperative position, the blades 37 are clear of the containers on the slide 15 so that the feed bar 32 can be moved endwise relative to the containers through its return stroke.

The means for moving the feed bar 32 pivotally between its feeding and clearing positions comprises a fluid cylinder 38 pivotally secured to a bracket 39 at the underside of the top 3 and having a piston rod 40 extending upwardly through a slot 3a in the top 3. At its end, the piston rod 40 is connected to a block 41 that is loosely mounted for pivotal and sliding movement on an elongated coupling pin 42 that extends through and is held against endwise movement within bores in a pair of cranks 43. The cranks 43 are secured to the feed bar 32 and, together with the collars 35, support the supporting bar 34. The block 41 is held captive by a retaining block 44 having a first pair of ears that straddle one of the bearing blocks 33 and are slidably and pivotally mounted on the feed bar 32, and a second pair of ears that straddle the block 41 and slidably receive the pin 42. The cranks 43 are spaced along the feed bar 32 sufficient to avoid interference with the block 44 upon endwise movement of the feed bar 32 during its advance and return strokes.

Endwise movement is imparted to the feed bar 32 by a rotary hydraulic motor 45 that is secured to and depends from the underside of the top 3. The motor 45 has an output or drive shaft 46 with a crank arm 47 secured thereon. The arm 47 is pivotally connected by a crank pin 47a to one end of a connecting rod 48 pivotally connected at its other end through a joint 49 to a push rod 50 mounted for endwise sliding movement in a bushing 51 secured to the wall of the base 2. At its outer end, the push rod 50 is secured to a connecting member 52 which includes a bore 53 (FIG. 2) that receives the feed bar 32 for pivotal movement relative thereto, thereby supporting the connecting member 52 from the feed bar.

The connecting member 52 is secured to the feed bar 32 for endwise movement therewith while providing for angular movement of the feed bar 32 between its feeding position as illustrated in full lines in FIG. 4 and its clearing position as illustrated in dotted lines in FIG. 4. The means for securing the connecting member 52 to the feed bar 32 may, for example, comprise a pair of collars 54 which may be in the form of nuts threaded onto a threaded end portion 55 of the feed bar 32.

The connection between the push rod '50 and the connecting member 52 is designed to provide for adjustment of the connecting member 52 and thus the feed bar 32 and the blades 37 relative to the push rod 50. This connection comprises a hand wheel 56 secured to a socket member 57 which is, in turn, rotatably mounted in a recess in the connecting member 52 and is retained therein by a plate 59. The socket 57 has an internally threaded bore 60 that receives a threaded end portion 61 of the push rod 50, whereby when the hand wheel 56 is turned, the connecting member 52 is moved endwise relative to the push rod 50. With the feed bar 32 coupled to the connecting member 52 for endwise movement, the feed bar, together with the blades 37 are thus moved endwise of the machine to adjust the beginning and end of the advance stroke of the feed bar for accommodating the different sizes of containers whereby each size will be properly located beneath the filling valves when the blades 37 are at the end of their advance stroke. At the same time, the total length of the advance stroke is not changed so that the containers will be advance dthrough the machine upon successive strokes from one operative position to the next.

Indicia may be provided to indicate the setting of the connecting member 52 relative to the push rod 50. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the indicia comprises a pointer 62 secured to the push rod 50 as by a screw 63 that extends through appropriate slots in the connecting member 52 and in bushings 64 which permit endwise movement of the screw 63 and thus the pointer 62 with the push rod 50 and relative to the connecting member 52. The pointer 62 may cooperate with indicia (not shown) on the connecting member 52 to indicate the correct setting for each container.

The connecting member 52 is provided with a pushing flange 67 well as flanges 68 and 69 which assist in loading paper cartons onto the slide 15. The flange 68 serves as a stop for the carton on the discharge chute of the forming machine while the feed means 31 is in its advance stroke. During the return stroke, the flange 68 is moved from blocking relation relative to the carton, which then falls onto the slide in front of the pushing flange 67, which in effect functions as one of the blades 37. The flange 69 guides the carton onto the slide 15. The plastic bottles or jugs are adapted to be fed onto the slide 15 between the second and third blades at the right in FIG. 1 by a conveyor (not shown) arranged normal to the slide 15. The line of plastic containers on the conveyor are urged onto the slide 15 by the conveyor belt which is adapted to slide relative thereto when one bottle is fed onto the slide and thus acts to block the rest of the line of containers.

In the construction as described above, the endwise motion of the feed bar 32 is provided by the arcuate throw of the hydraulic motor 45 which operates substantially at a uniform angular velocity. The angular stroke of the motor 45 is controlled by switch means including a pair of switches 70 and 71 having switch arms 72 and 73- respectively that are adapted to be engaged by a trip surface 74 on the crank arm 47. The switch 70 is actuated by the trip surface 74 at the end of the advance stroke to sto the forward drive of the motor 45 and to actuate the cylinder 38 to pivot the feed bar 32 to its inoperative position. At the same time, the drive for the motor 45 is reversed so that when it is again actuated, such as by a switch (not shown) that is tripped by the mechanism for pivotally moving the feed bar 32, the feed bar 32 is driven through its return stroke. The switch 71 is actuated by the trip surface 74 at the end of the return stroke of the motor 45 to stop the return stroke, reverse the drive therefor and actuate the cylinder 38 to pivot the feed bar 32 to its feeding position. Upon completion of the pivotal movement to the feeding position, the pivotal movement is automatically stopped. The next feeding cycle is started automatically upon completion of the one feeding cycle or of the filling cycle, whichever is longer.

The angular stroke of the motor 45 is preferably substantially one-half revolution, that is, about or only slightly more than one-hundred and eighty degrees. The beginning and ending points of the advance and return strokes are disposed substantially at the points of maximum displacement of the feed bar 32 endwise of the machine, or in other words, substantially at the reversal or dead center points of the motion imparted to the connecting rod 48, beyond which any further angular movement of the motor 45 in the advance stroke, that is, in the clockwise direction in FIG. 1, would begin to impart return motion to the feed bar 32, and continued angular movement of the motor 45 in the return stroke would begin to impart advance motion to the feed bar 32. The length of the endwise movement of the feed bar 32, which is determined by the spacing of the crank pin 47a radially of the shaft 46 of the motor 45, is made to provide an advance stroke that is substantially equal to the width of the widest container for which the machine is designed, plus the width of the blades 37, together with a minimum clearance for the blades to be inserted between two adjacent containers of the largest intended cross section on the slide 15. The location of each of the filling valves 10, which are equally spaced along the slide 15, as well as the sealing head 8 and capping head 9 is determined by the position 'of the blades 37 at the end of the advance stroke so that the containers will be left in their operative positions relative to the valves 10 and heads 8 and 9 while the feed bar is retracted through its return stroke.

In operation, the containers that are delivered to the filling machine 1 may comprise either paper cartons discharged from a carton forming machine or plastic bottles or jugs advanced to the machine such as by a conveyor mechanism. In either case, the container is deposited on the slide 15 at the input end of the machine 1, that is, at the right in FIG. 1 where there is illustrated in phantom a container C which is a one-half gallon paper milk carton. As the feed mechanism moves through its advance stroke, the container C is engaged by the blade 37 and advanced one position along the slide 15. On subsequent cycles of the feeding mechanism, the carton C is advanced to three successive filling positions where the carton is in position to receive liquid dispensed from the spouts 11 with the carton receiving one-third of its designed volume at each position. On the next four cycles of the feed mechanism, the carton C is advanced past the heater 7 to heat the top flaps or panels thereof to a sealing temperature at which the plastic coating is softened and thereby rendered scalable. The carton C is then advanced to the sealing head 8 where the top flaps or panels are closed. On the following cycles of the feed mechanism, the carton C is advanced past the capping head 9, which is used to apply caps on plastic bottles or jugs but is inoperative or removed when paper cartons are being filled and closed. Finally, the container is advanced onto an accumulator table (not shown) or other suitable receiving means such as a conveyor or the receiving table of a stacking mechanism (not shown).

With the feed bar 32 driven in this manner, the constant angular speed of the motor 45 drives the feed bar 32 at a speed that varies in a sinusoidal manner from zero at the beginning of the stroke, to a maximum at the midpoint of the stroke, and back to zero at the end of the stroke. The movement imparted to the feed bar 32 comprises the component of motion of the pin 47a that is aligned with the feed bar 32, and the component of motion at right angles thereto constitutes essentially lost motion of the connecting rod 48 about its pivotal connection with the push rod 50 at the joint 49. Thus, the initial motion of the crank pin 47a is primarily lost motion because it is primarily in the direction normal to the axis of the feed bar 32 and there is only a small component in the direction of the axis of the feed bar 32.

The feed bar 32 is thus started very slowly in its advance stroke. At the same time, the feed bar is accelerated at an increasing rate so that in addition to providing a very smooth and gentle contact between the blades and the containers, it is advanced relatively rapidly. At the opposite end of the advance stroke, the deceleration of the feed bar 32 is equally gentle, with the fin'al deceleration being at a very low rate.

While the illustrated filling mechanism is designed for introducing liquids into the containers, it will be understood that other filling mechanism can also be used, for example, filling mechanisms of the type for introducing dry and granular or viscous materials.

What I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent 1. In a filling machine for containers, the combination comprising:

filling means for introducing a predetermined volume of material into a container at a filling position,

a slide for supporting a container relative to the filling means in the filling position and along which a container is advanced to and from the filling position,

a feed bar and means for mounting said feed bar for endwise movement through advance and return strokes in a direction parallel to the lengthwise direction of the slide,

a plurality of feed elements uniformly spaced along the feed bar, and means for moving said feed elements into operative position in pushing relation to containers on said slide and into inoperative position clear of containers on said slide,

endwise drive means for imparting endwise movement to said feed bar including an advance stroke with the feed elements in operative position and a return stroke with the feed elements in inoperative position, and for accelerating the speed of said feed bar during the advance stroke slowly from zero at the beginning thereof and at an increasing rate to a maximum speed at an intermediate point and for decelerating the speed of said feed bar from said maximum speed at said intermediate point to zero at the end thereof with the final deceleration at a slow rate,

a connecting member attached to said feed bar and adjustably connected to said endwise drive means, and

means for adjusting the relative positions of the connecting member and the endwise drive means whereby the beginning point of each advance stroke of the feed bar can be adjusted while providing a constant length of stroke of said feed bar to accommodate containers of different cross sections.

2. In a filling machine for containers, the combination comprising:

filling means for introducing a predetermined volume of material into a container at a filling position,

a slide for supporting a container relative to the filling means in the filling position and along which a container is advanced to and from the filling position,

a feed bar and means for mounting said feed bar for endwise movement through advance and return strokes in a direction parallel to the lengthwise direction of the slide,

a plurality of feed elements uniformly spaced along 8 the feed bar, and means for moving said feed elements into operative position in pushing relation to containers on said slide and into inoperative position clear of containers on said slide, and

endwise drive means for imparting endwise movement to said feed bar including an advance stroke with the feed elements in operative position and a return stroke with the feed elements in inoperative position, and for accelerating the speed of said feed bar during the advance stroke slowly from Zero at the beginning thereof and at an increasing rate to a maximum speed at an intermediate point and for decelerating the speed of said feed bar from said maximum speed at said intermediate point to zero at the end thereof with the fin-al deceleration at a slow rate, said endwise drive means including;

an angularly moving drive shaft,

a crank arm secured to said drive shaft,

means for interconnecting said crank arm and said feed bar for imparting endwise movement to said feed bar upon angular movement of said drive shaft,

means for imparting angular movement at substantially uniform angular velocity to said drive shaft; and

switch means positioned adjacent said crank arm for controlling angular movement of said drive shaft to substantially one-half revolution, back and forth between end positions in which said push rod is at its positions of maximum endwise displacement.

3. A filling machine in accordance with claim 2, wherein said switch means comprises:

a pair of switches, each switch having a switch arm positioned to be selectively engaged by said crank arm and to reverse the angular movement of the drive shaft when the push rod is at its positions of maximum endwise displacements.

4. A filling machine according to claim 11, having:

container closing means defining a plurality of container closing positions and wherein said filling means has a plurality of filling positions, said filling and closing positions being equally spaced endwise along said slide whereby a container is adapted to be indexed along said slide upon successive advance strokes of said feed bar to the successive filling and closing positions.

5. A filling machine in accordance with claim 1 wherein said endwise drive means includes an endwise movable push rod connected to said adjusting means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,011,839 8/1935 Anderson 198-221 2,788,885 4/1957 Begent 198221 3,220,445 11/1965 Taisey 53282 X 3,307,325 3/1967 Garrett 53-266 X 3,411,267 11/1968 Garrett 53-266 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner R. L. SPRUILL, Assistant Examiner U.S. c1. X.R. 

